Temperatures have been soaring in Abingdon since Monday, with today reaching a high of 30°C. Tomorrow is predicted to be even hotter, with a maximum temperature of 31°C.
The Vale of White Horse District Council has reopened the splash pad in the Abbey Meadow, and it is expected to be a popular destination for families over the weekend. The kiosk was also reopened today.
This evening has been balmy, with people enjoying the warm weather on the River Thames.
I saw the 20mph limit signs going up today around south Abingdon this morning.
This morning the chap on the Yammy did his 60mph wheelie down Caldecott Road, and this evening another bike was reving around 7000rpm, so am guessing getting on for 70mph down Blacknall Road.
I guess they didn’t get the memo?
Still….at least the signs are up! 👍
They are up in other places too. They are still a ridiculous idea. Not enforced and largely ignored. WE had a national speed linits set for a reason on.
Apparently every single LibDem voter voted, explicitly, for 20mph speed limits though….so the majority are happy with them. Even though they produce more pollution and don’t make the roads any safer….
I thought Lib Dems were the intelligencia!?
they make my current journey to work hell. slowing down outside schools. Fair play ill cope with that. but imposed for no reason at all on a previously accident free stretch of road? Why?
IM not political, but do like to see some sort of sense in what we are being asked to do. I cant with this. just suck it up and like it whether you agree or not.
Every single lib Dems voter wanted exactly this and that is why the lib Dems had a very clear and specific mandate to deliver this exact policy….as evidenced by the last local elections… apparently.
Why oh why they would want a policy that creates more pollution harming our children and most vulnerable I can’t fathom. But that’s the clear mandate they got and I guess they have to now do that to please their electorate…even though it’s so bad for them 🤷♂️
I am becoming more and more dispirited of the goings on in the town..children so young just doing exactly what they want to do with no Parental guidance what so ever..I thought council and our PM would be able to do something..but just do not bother to even reply..last complaint as nothing moves…the only praise I can give our flora in the town is magnificent!
Some motorcycle riders just don’t realise the giveaway the noise they make relates to the speed they are doing, it happens less often now but on quiet evenings bikes leaving Abingdon along the causeway and again after Culham towards Clifton Hampden can be heard maxing out in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th.
Competing for the Darwin Awards perhaps ? Can’t expect much sympathy if successful; just hope they don’t take someone with them.
I’m no fan of the blanket 20mph limits Spike but that’s no way to describe their implementation….
Hit someone with a car at 30 they generally die
Hit someone at a car at 20 they generally live
Most of the areas that are going to 20 mph are residential areas so no good reason to go fast in them anyway. Personally I can police myself and try and obey the speed limits
All true, Iain. But how about not hitting someone in the first place? RoSPA has local groups that run safe driving courses which cost less than a tank of petrol and coach people in how to anticipate and avoid problems. Most drivers rely on their reactions and don’t really have a driving plan – hence collisions and worse.
Fully agree Paul – not an either or though
Actually Iain – figures from Brake – the road safety charity put it at 1 in 5 will die in a collision at 30mph, but I accept that many more will survive lower speed impacts and that 20mph is good for many residential roads and outside schools. For those of us who can’t afford to buy an electric car yet, driving at 20mph surely does create more pollution though because you have to drive in 2nd gear to keep to it. Also, I worry that an enforced 20 mph limit will result in people driving watching their speedos, not the road and causing more accidents because of that.
Will just take a while for people to get used to driving at 20. For the electric car point I agree, but it’s gradually moving in the direction of electric vehicles and this will change over time as nonelectric won’t be produced after 2030
I wonder what the kinetic energy of a “light” ICE car hitting a pedestrian at “20mph” is compared to the kinetic energy of a much heavier electric vehicle traveling at 20mph?
K.E. = 1/2 M V2 V = the speed in kph. M = the mass. So it’s proportional to the mass of the vehicle, speed measured in m/sec.
20mph is a useful and beneficial idea in residential areas – as long as we accept the increased pollution as the flip side. Anywhere else and they are authoritarian, totally unnecessary and create more issues than they solve.
Sledgehammers….nuts…lazy policy making.
I actually find the arguments for/against quite intriguing. The facts speak for themselves that this is not about safety.
Pollution impact what sort of car your driving Daniel, and whether the speed limit changes driving habits. Having said that, regardless of the policy motivation it’s a good thing fir road safety
Sorry – missed out the word ‘depends’ after impact
It is an exceptionally blunt instrument to deal with an incredibly nuanced issue. So blunt in fact there has clearly got to be another agenda involved; as I simply can’t believe it otherwise. I’d imagine “money” will be a significant factor somewhere in the mix in some-way-shape-or-form.
If it truly were about safety then preventing “right turns” would be a more effective blunt instrument to reduce injury.
Seriously, so much complaining about 20mph speed limits… and people getting all tribal and assuming that people who vote for one party behave in one way and the other voters behave in another way? Why pigeonhole people in that way? It doesn’t make sense.
Think of these positives –
As more people drive electric cars in future years pollution will go down anyway. (from vehicles – home gas boilers and wood burning stoves another matter…)
20mph in built up areas also makes more sense as electric cars are generally heavier than combustion engine vehicles and do more damage to things they hit. (they also damage the roads due to more torque and weight in pulling away – anyone who has noticed the ruts in bus stops can conclude).
It’s a fact that someone is much less likely to die being hit at 20mph. They are also much less likely to die getting hit by an SUV at 20mph, which are every 2nd vehicle on the road nowadays, and people seem to drive them like they are invincible.
-Sure, the argument of “oh, just don’t hit people in your car then” can be put out there, but some pedestrians can actually do silly and random things. A lot of pedestrians out there are distracted and glued to smartphones, messaging while walking, and they can and do step out into the road. (happens all the time in Oxford, ach the tourists…)
-Consider that a lower speed limit in towns also protects car drivers from tragedy as well, because who on earth wants the trauma of seriously injuring or killing a child who suddenly runs out into the road? Or an elderly person who can’t hear you coming or is confused and steps out on you? Or a drunk person who staggers into the road?
-A lower urban speed limit also makes it safer to cycle, and if parents feel that the roads are now safer due to the lower speed limits, then maybe more children will then be allowed to actually ride and walk to school? And that will lead to less pollution in towns.
20mph speed limits might be seen as “nanny state” by some but there’s a host of other benefits that go with it, and it’s the way to go for the future. Whatever way you vote in elections!
All fair points Kris. Posted elsewhere it was stated, as a fact, that as this policy was implemented by the Lib Dems, and as they had an overwhelming majority in the last local elections ergo the LibDems have a mandate to apply this policy. I happen to disagree on that, but that’s the point I was trying to underline.
Meanwhile, as well as the positives for a 20mph limit, there are negatives. It’s a worry that these are ignored. It is also a concern (or should be) that policy is made and implemented based on bizarre interpretation of the information available. To try and illustrate the inanity of 20mph limits (where they serve no benefit) it would, in fact, make more “sense” and ACTUALLY address the issue if you applied a policy to “stop right turns”.
Alas, we are at the mercy of the music makers…come what may, and as we know we just have to put up with it.